Therapy, Beauty, Respect: The Norse Ridge Ranch Story

In this episode of From the Pasture with Hired Hand, we visit with Leslie and Marshall Merritt of Norse Ridge Ranch in Bosque County, Texas. Their Longhorn program is built around three simple words: Therapy, Beauty, and Respect.

Leslie and Marshall share how a quick pivot from Angus cattle led to a passion for registered Texas Longhorns and discuss the peace they find spending time with their herd. They also talk about what they value most in their cattle—from horn and color to disposition and structure—and how respect for the animal guides every decision they make.

This episode is a great reminder that Texas Longhorns can be more than livestock—they can be an experience.

Norse Ridge Ranch: http://www.norseridgeranch.com/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Hi there, I'm Molly. And I'm Jamie. We're the owners of Higher Hand Software. And this is season six of our From the Pasture podcast. For more than 15 years, we've been helping breeders promote their pedigree livestock with our easy-to-use, animal management-driven website software. Each week, we bring you stories from the pasture, breeding philosophies, ranch traditions, cattle knowledge, and conversation with folks using Hired Hand to power their livestock marketing. So settle in for today's episode of From the Pasture with Hired Hand. Today we're headed to Basque County by way of Dallas to visit with Leslie and Marshall Merritt of Norse Ridge Ranch. Their program might be young, but their vision is incredibly clear. In fact, they've built their entire ranch philosophy around three simple words therapy, beauty, respect. And today's conversation is structured around exactly that. We're going to talk about how a quick pivot from Angus turned into a full-blown love affair with registered Texas Longhorns, what it meant to find therapy in the pasture after a week in the busy city, how they define beauty from sweeping horn to bold color to balanced structure, and why respect for the animal drives every decision they make, from genetics to nutrition to disposition. This episode is especially relatable for anyone who balances a busy life in town with weekends at the ranch. And for those who believe these cattle are more than livestock, they're an experience. Let's step into the pasture with Leslie and Marshall. Thank you both for joining us today.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Glad to be here.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

Well, let's go ahead and jump right in. Marshall, tell us about that first Angus purchase.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Okay. I was born and raised in Decatur, Texas, on a 100-acre farm. My dad was a hobby farmer. He raised racehorses and Angus. And so I grew up feeding animals, going to the shows, the whole bit. And that's really all I knew. So when we bought our ranch, I just knew we had to have an egg exemption. So I went and bought some Angus.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

Leslie, what was your response?

SPEAKER_01 2:12

I said, where's the fun in that? Uh I just thought there's no way that I can have a relationship with an Angus cow. I'm an animal lover. Uh I wanted uh animals that we could interact with, uh, we could pet. And that doesn't happen with an Angus. And at the time, our we just had one granddaughter, she was a baby, but we knew our children would have more. And so I had this vision of animals that they could interact with, we could pet, and so forth.

SPEAKER_02 2:50

Was there any hesitation between the two of you when pivoting to registered longhorns?

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Oh, yes. Um, we both graduated from Texas, and we had never heard of raising registered Texas longhorns. And so when Leslie got online and kind of found this world, we were a little bit suspect. We just didn't understand. We knew longhorns existed, but the longhorns I've always seen weren't that great looking. Um, and so I got online on Craigslist and found a breeder out near Rockwall, east of Dallas. And we went out there and he was really putting a hard sales pitch on us, and he had a cow that I thought looked pretty. I didn't know anything about it. And I said, What about how much would that cow cost? And he said, $40,000 because of Jamaicaism. And Leslie and I looked at each other like, what is a Jamaicaism? We had no idea what that was, but we weren't gonna tell him that, but he probably could figure that out. Um but after a couple more trips back out there to see him, we just felt like he was just too his sales pitch was just too hard, and we just did couldn't trust him. So he may have been fine. It was just wasn't it wasn't what we wanted to be sold on, and so we moved on, and Leslie found somebody on online that we actually happened to know.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

And that really was a blessing. Uh, and I'm just gonna just shout out for your y'all's search engine uh feature, because if it hadn't been for that, I wouldn't have found anything. And and I just googled registered Texas Longhorns, and all these ranches, local ranches came up. I we wanted to stay in Texas, and one of them was uh Katie K. Longhorns with Janet Harmon and Kent Mays. And uh we recog we both went uh to Texas with Kent.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

And so Yeah, we knew we knew Kent from from Texas, and he and I happened to be in the same service organization, so I just called him and they invited us down, and uh we went and saw their incredible herd, and we ended up buying, I don't know, five or six from them, not knowing one single thing what we were doing. And we still have two of those today. They did us right by not taking advantage and selling us all all their low-end animals. Uh, and and the two we have are two of our very best.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

Our very best. And I was so impressed by Janet's knowledge of pedigree. She could just look out, and they had had so many, still do. And she could we're just driving past, and she could just point out any cow and tell you the pedigree down to uh the the Grand Dam. And and I just thought this, this is this woman is knows what she's talking about. Right. And they worked together, which was so impressive. True team, those two. So that was awesome.

SPEAKER_02 5:54

Tell me a little bit more about when you were at the point where you were researching programs around you. Uh, did you find did you find other programs? Did you start to try to understand the pedigrees? Just tell tell our listeners a little bit more about that journey.

unknown 6:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

Well, I I guess we when we started out, we only just used Google. I mean, sure, that's all we did. We went to Katie K's ranch, bought a few. We went to a ranch called GVR, uh, Longhorns out near Dublin. Super nice couple. That we bought a few from them, and we still have one. It's one of our very best. And so we just got lucky that we came across people that were willing to sell us not just their very worst animals, because they knew we knew nothing. And uh and that's that's just a blessing that that uh we weren't really thinking about when uh when we started this journey for sure.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

Did you use social media at all in addition to Google when you were trying to find breeders near you or animals for sale near near you?

SPEAKER_00 7:00

I don't remember. I'd never been on social media uh up until two years ago, never one time. And so Leslie has, and I don't remember us going on social media.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

I really I only use social media just for social reasons, and so I just didn't think to use it for longhorns. So it really was a matter of of Googling and and and then the next few steps that we went through that we can talk about the auctions. The auctions are what truly educated us and opened our eyes about what's out there. We had no idea. So tell me a little bit more about that.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

Well, we you know, we bought our first animals in November of 22. And so the next year, the Hudson Valentine was the first auction we went to. And we walked in and sat down at an open table, and there was a a young couple there that were super nice named Britney and Josh Gentry. And so we sat there and the the auction started, and Brittany would sit there and say, Okay, this cow's gonna sell for about this. And she would do it over and over, and she was just spot on. I mean, it was See the dollar. It was amazing what she could do. And I was just dumbfounded, like, how do you know all these animals and what they'll sell for? And even I looked at Josh and he's like, Yeah, she does this all the time. So it was just kind of like, wow, how can you get that kind of knowledge? Her knowledge was just so impressive. So when we started home, I said, you know, Leslie, we've been for four or five months, we've been just kind of floating along. Hey, these are fun, these are pretty, whatever. I just told her, after seeing that world of the auction world and how people, the pricing, everything, I said, I just can't do it as a hobby. I have to take this. It's a hobby, but it has to be a serious hobby. I'm just too competitive. I just can't sit back. I just can't do it. I'd rather not do it. And she didn't come around as quickly as I did, but she did finally come around.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

Well, I just wanted, because I love these animals in general, and I was growing to love these animals so much. I just wanted to make sure before we just went in full-fledged, um, I wanted to make sure it was a safe industry and they really looked after the animals' welfare and there was no harm. And uh, and we did our research, we talked to a lot of people, uh, went online, read about it, and it it is indeed a safe industry for the animals. They are not mistreated in any way. So once I realized that, and that, and by the way, kind of comes back to that word respect. We really need to respect these animals and make sure that they will not be harmed in any way. And um, and they're not. So, so after I did that, I was I was ready to go.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

So you got the green light, and where did you go from there? How many did you buy any at the Hudson Valentine's sale? Did you go to sales after that and make purchases?

SPEAKER_00 10:21

No, we went just to see what a auction, I think someone told us about it. I don't even remember who, but we just went to see what it was about.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

I think it was Kent and Janet.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

Maybe Kent and Janet. Yeah. It was Kent and Janet. Um, and so at that point, we had to figure out, okay, how do you start learning this business? Well, other people. I and I had met Brian Brett, who was super nice. And so I started calling Brian probably too much, but I started calling him a lot. Um, but there were, and he helped incredible. He was very, very, very nice to put so much time into my questions. But but there were others. I'd met Wayne Manning, you know, Dean Whitlock, Amy, and Tom Buxton. I mean, the list can go on, the Stegamolers, the list can go uh Ryan Culpepper, Dale Hunt. I mean, it can it can go on and on, and I'm gonna leave some people out that I shouldn't, but it but uh they were all very, very open with their information, and we really appreciated it.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

And I have a little side note about Brian Brett. Marshall was calling him so much, just like every night for many nights in a row, and I just said, You are stalking this guy. You gotta stop.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

He has a live, oh my gosh, give him a break. And I said, You he has talked to you so much, he's given you so much time, so much of his time, you need to buy an animal from him. So we did. And uh, she's one of our greatest.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

I was not stalking. It's just this this longhorn whirl gets in your blood. And when you see someone who will receive your questions, you just kind of I have a hard time stopping. I guess I worked.

SPEAKER_02 12:10

I feel like Brian is genuinely one of those people who believes in passing it on too. And I like when he got started, I think he was in a similar boat, had some great mentors, and you know, now he is one of the most knowledgeable people, you know, to to rely on, and I'm sure he's very happy just to just to pass that on.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

I do want to say one thing, and I even looked this up. Oh, it's been a little bit back, but I just think one of the biggest crimes in the Longhorn World is that Brian Brett is never one breeder of the year. He he has put so many bulls and females into this industry, and he deserves that credit. He he is, I think he is one of the smartest Longhorn people in the industry. When you get really in deep depth conversations, you can just see he studies this and really understands the breeding.

SPEAKER_02 13:00

Is that your is that your pitch for us all to fill out our our nomination forms for next year?

SPEAKER_00 13:05

It is. I think I think that would be very justified.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Throw our hats in the ring for that.

SPEAKER_02 13:13

All right. So you you got rid of the Angus, you added some longhorns, uh, you went to some sales, you started the education process about bloodlines and and pedigrees. Uh, what came next?

SPEAKER_00 13:56

I guess studying the sales brochures, that um that really advanced us a lot. Um because once you start studying them, you kind of see how you know Brittany gentry can get to that point. I don't know if we're there that yet, but we we're close because we now understand the maternal lines, the sires, the ones we like, the ones we don't like. And it's just through, I mean, I look at it morning and night. Uh, I just love looking at it. And and y'all's website truly makes it so easy to um to do the research. That's what I love about just going back and seeing. You know, one of the things Brian Brett does, he counts how many times um uh what who is it? Don Quixote Spear. And so Leslie's now doing that, going deep, deep dives.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

Because we love black in our we love to have that those accents, and it's sometimes hard to come by. And color is a is a little more important to me than it is Marshall, but I've really kind of stuck by that um because when you're looking and you get, especially if you're at an auction and you're under pressure and the you know, just all the the chaos that happens at an auction, you've really got to s stick to those those core values and core um whatever attracted you to the breed. And that that was the color for me. And of course I like con horn and confirmation, the the complete cow or heifer. Uh, but color's really important.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

So in those days, in those early days when you were first starting off, but also when you were beginning to learn more and studying the sale catalogs and and going online to research those animals more, was there ever a point where you bought an animal sight unseen? Did you always see them in person? Uh tell me a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

Never sight unseen.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Never thought we wouldn't do that.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

And we also have a habit or uh just really a standard of going to see the animals in the pins um at the sale before the auction starts. We want to see that that animal first. So um yeah, that's where online, everything online just helps so much because um as as long as there's updated photos and we really look at that too to make sure they're they're current, uh that that's just you know, half the game right there.

SPEAKER_02 16:48

Let's jump into the three the three values that you list on your website. So the first one is therapy. Uh what does that really mean to you when it comes to the cattle?

SPEAKER_01 16:59

Okay, excuse me, I have a little cold. Um therapy really because we love these animals because they're constantly changing, they are absolutely gorgeous. And uh just being out in the pasture when the sun's setting with our glass of wine and watching these girls just stroll and uh want cubes, want head scratches, uh just whatever's on your mind, uh that that you've kind of whatever baggage you've packed in your brain, uh just melts away. It's it's no longer there. And uh being out in the country, the clean country air and the the starry nights, you can see the stars. Can't get that in Dallas, really. Um so it is therapy on so many levels. And then another level of therapy uh we've experienced is it's helped our marriage so much because you know, after 36 years of marriage, um you know, things get stale. Just gotta be honest. And and so this has added a real dimension to our marriage and an interest and a common interest. You know, Marshall's got his business and sports, and I have family and um my teaching, but but this is what we have in common, and uh it's just so much better than sitting on the couch and watching next Netflix. You know, we can just talk about longhorns and it's really it's fun.

SPEAKER_02 18:38

Do you find the same relaxation, Marshall? Or are you out there kind of thinking, okay, this is who I'm gonna pair her with next. This is what this calf should look like.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

You know, I am out there thinking about that and doing a lot of the, I guess you call it manual labor, even though I love it. Uh I'm almost addicted to it. Um But yes, the therapy of just I just seeing the results of something you work so hard for, I think that really uh there's a reward there that's hard to explain. If if maybe you just have casual animals, and that's that's that's not really what I like doing. The cat, I like being committed and seeing results. And we're just early into it, but we have we've already had a c calf crop, and and so things are starting to come around. So we're we're real excited about it.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

Tell me a little bit about what your typical weekend looks like when you arrive at the ranch, because you don't live there full time, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:36

Right.

SPEAKER_02 19:37

And how far is the ranch from your your uh two hours in Dallas? Two hours?

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 19:43

So ta tell me about the time you walk out your door in Dallas till the time you uh have spent maybe a night or two at the ranch, kind of your your routine and how your feelings change. And do you feel the same?

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Well we walk out, we usually check hired hand, your latest podcast, so we listen to that going down.

SPEAKER_02 20:00

Awesome. That's it.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

And we listen another podcast as well, but um but we you you said you put one out a week, so we're we're we're listening every time. We rarely watch it, but we do listen to it. Um and then when we get there after we unpack, it's just I go over and start feeding because I really just want to see the animals as much and see how they're doing. Because it's amazing in a week, five days, they can change. And it's kind of like, wow, that that that cow put on some porn in just a week, you know, that kind of thing. And so we do that, and then after we kind of do our cow thing, we're we have so many projects. Um, you know, Leslie's really gotten in, she's kind of in charge of our soil health. Uh Central Texas doesn't have the best soil. And so where we worked for the last four years really trying to improve our soil, which will improve our grasses.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

Yes, excuse me. Um, so what I've done is uh I believe in cover crops uh in the fall, like rye and wheat and two types of rye. And um, and so we harrow that in before a rain, and and that that's also a food crop. And and then in the spring we do uh uh native grasses, and that that takes a while. Those are a little um more finicky, but but after three years, they're finally c coming up, and uh we we have improved this soil that's mainly a lot of it's thin, a lot of it's rocky, caliche. Uh, but uh this documentary that I mentioned, Biggest Little Farm, uh, really taught us about regenerating the soil, rotational grazing. Um, we don't believe in pesticides. That doesn't mean, you know, we think they're wrong. We just don't do that with with our soil and and our land.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

And we did pick up some more land so we can rotate easier now than when we first started. That that's made a huge difference. What are some other projects? Um well, we have lots of cedar in s in central Texas, and that's why we both have allergies right now, but it blows up here. Um but we're we're removing cedar that's over. Overtaking certain pasture land, and so we're claiming that back all the time. Uh, and so that's an ongoing project that um it really is worked on every single week by some of the people who work at our place and by us just constant.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

And of course, we want to have our family out to the ranch as much as much as possible. It's a little hard right now because our grandchildren are still so young. So um, and and they do come out, but but we're hoping that when they get older, they'll come out a lot more because there's a lot to do out there.

SPEAKER_02 23:08

That was one of my questions was what your grandkids think about the cattle, but it sounds like they maybe don't think about them yet.

SPEAKER_01 23:16

Well, they we had that's one of our little um stories. So we now we have a four and a half-year-old dot granddaughter and a two and a half-year-old granddaughter. The four and a half is kind of naturally um, she's she's not as bold with animals as our two and a half year old. The two and a half year old, if you let her, which of course we wouldn't, will be in the middle of the pasture with the longhorns trying to pet, pet them. And she probably got that from me, I'm sure. But it's just incredible the difference between the two girls. And then we have two babies, two, you know, they're babies. But uh it's it will be fun to see them mature with the and how they handle the longhorns.

SPEAKER_02 24:03

I'm sure you'll have some maybe interestingly named uh animals in your future or make things anyway. Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

Someone warned me not to name cows after your grandkids is then because then you can't sell. I like emotionally attached.

SPEAKER_02 24:18

There you go. Do their parents find the ranch therapeutic or the cattle therapeutic? Do they enjoy their time out there?

SPEAKER_00 24:26

Well, they you know they each each of our kids have a baby also, so there's four total.

SPEAKER_01 24:32

One's in Austin. Our daughter and son-in-law are in Austin, and then son and daughter-in-law are in Dallas.

SPEAKER_00 24:39

So they it's not as easy for them to relax uh when they come out there with with the babies. But yes, I they would be there all the time if they weren't quite so committed on the family side.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

And we're working on a kind of a childcare situation too. I think that'll change things.

SPEAKER_00 24:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 25:00

Do you feel like having the longhorns has changed your stress level even during the weeks in Dallas, you know, when you can't get out to the ranch, do you feel like it's at least impacted it a little bit?

SPEAKER_01 25:13

I will say yes, because um just psychologically, whatever you have on your mind um really kind of shapes, it affects you uh physically. And if you just if you think about longhorns all the time and just have them in the back of your mind, you're wondering about them, it's it's really um a healthy pastime uh because uh you're just it's productive and it's it's not worrying about anything. It's just kind of um musing about these fantastic animals and wondering, okay, has she had her calf yet? And and we do, there is a little bit of worry because we're not there, but we have people checking on them, um watching, feeding. So we we have that comfort level, which is really nice.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

Do you feel like hobby breeders sometimes maybe underestimate the mental health side of the lifestyle and how it can help them?

SPEAKER_00 26:16

I do just because they may not get the reward feeling like when you truly commit to you know improving the breed, improving your herd. I don't know that for sure, but I could see uh I know there's still stress relief and it's enjoyable. It's just a matter of what level you want to be. It's not a right or wrong answer. It's just it's just what it is.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

Do you feel like going to the events and also meeting people with similar interests and passions for them also kind of expands the the therapeutic uh impact of it a little bit?

unknown 26:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:56

Absolutely. Absolutely, yes. We we've made some great friends and we did not realize this world was so social. We never even considered that when we bought our longhorns until we went to that first auction to get kind of see a lot of people knew each other, and and then I started hearing more and more about how uh people like to get together, and I I understand it. It's great.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

And I I to be honest, uh, at first I thought, you know, being a cigir, I don't know what I'm gonna have in common with these people. And I was a little hesitant at first. Uh but you know, people are so they're so open and and would just invite we didn't know anyone at our first sales, and we're just walking around like, you know, high school cafeteria, who do we sit with? And uh um we were just welcomed. Uh just oh come sit with us. And uh very that just warmed our heart quite a bit. So uh it was a it was a pleasant surprise, I should say.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:01

Well, let's switch gears and talk about beauty. Uh, what defines beauty in a long horn to each of you?

SPEAKER_00 28:07

I would say just when it's hard to put your finger on it, but uh when when everything clicks as far as what we like in a in a horn set, the horn length, the body, when you put it all together, color all of it, you can just say that is a beautiful animal right there. And so um it's hard to say any one thing, but she and Leslie and I have a little bit different how we look at them. And so when we can come together on one animal, it we think it's special. Uh, and so that's that's what beauty is, really, when it c when we all come when we she and I can actually agree on that's has everything we want.

SPEAKER_01 28:49

And really, um our quintessential longhorn, I would say, is her nickname is Dot, uh, but her official name is Fast Iron, and she's our cover girl on our homepage, and she's just got it all, and just the beautiful elite swap, uh, as I call it, and the drag iron dot, and just that the body that uh just never quits. Awesome. So um I would use Dot as is our example, um, and then also Heidi Ho, which is who was a recent purchase who a lot of people might recognize that name. We just fell in love with her because she she she he and I agreed on her immediately.

SPEAKER_00 29:41

It's rare.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

And we've never done that. We've never he's usually, but we both said, heck yeah, and went for it.

SPEAKER_02 29:50

Do you feel like your preferences have evolved since 2022?

SPEAKER_00 29:57

I do. Um I guess once we started really, really learning and thinking about it, we realized we want since we're gonna have a small herd, we want diversity. And so it made us say, okay, we have enough, you know, tough checks, we need to look other places. And so when we go through a catalog, there's so many great cows, but we'll end up with just a handful we really want to consider, just because we're trying to make it fit from a diversity standpoint into our herd. And and so our preferences have changed tremendously. It because we had no preferences originally, just it was just a shotgun approach, and we realized this is not gonna work. And so for it to be have a quality herd, it'd be known for having a call quality herd. So yes, it it has definitely evolved uh our preferences.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

And one thing I will say about preferences that has not changed with me is disposition. I um from that very first sale, the stockyard sale, I would go around and people plot, oh my gosh, who was this crazy lady petting all these animals? But I did, I didn't care. So I went around and I petted all the animals and and I tested their disposition. And I will never forget, once again, Heidi Ho. She is this huge, majestic, beautiful animal that we'd already fallen in love with. And I go to her pen and I just put my hand out and she lowers her head immediately. And it was just the sweetest thing. And she's never changed. She's been as sweet as just sweetest. There's some that come close, but she's probably our sweetest. Probably.

SPEAKER_00 32:52

Or one since you kind of we just had four more yesterday and the day before. So a total of three in one day and then one. So it this is starting our second crop.

SPEAKER_02 33:02

Okay. So do you feel like there's a Norse ridge look that you're going for? Or do you want to try to maybe explain some of the, you know, what you're hoping for out of that calf crop, kind of in terms of the beauty of the animal?

SPEAKER_00 33:16

Sure. Um, you know, our bull is M7 um Irish Luck. And if you even go on his progeny page, the one thing that sticks out, because these calves are very young, is the color. I can't speak for our partners, but we've never had a solid white or red out of him. He throws incredible color. Of course, he's an incredible bull in that we love black and white. Um, he has this hip, we call it the Irish hip, that he's throwing now to his offspring. Um, we know he'll be over 90. He's working his way there now. I don't know what he is right now. We don't get him for a few more months. Um, but uh our look really is just you know, we I want long horn. If I'm moving the long horn business, and to me, a long horn is over 90. I don't care if we ever have a hundred-inch cow, that doesn't really matter to me. I just want to have that over 90 because they breed so well with any bull there is, really, that's that's quality. Uh and then of course, if Iris can keep putting on the hip and the structure, it's and we already know he's doing, he's putting on the color, it's pretty much all right there. I mean, uh I'll I'll just say that one of the biggest um, I guess, turning points since we've been in this business is we we had a really bad experience AI in the very first year because we were kind of led to believe you don't need a bull, just AI, and it'll all be fine. Not knowing anything about that, I go, okay, that'll be easy. Well, I think we were one for 12 on AI. It was terrible. And that was over a period of time of redoing it, and it just never did work. Uh, and so we realized also we realized we don't have a cleanup bull, and we're like, we're about to miss a whole breeding season, which we lost most close to our breeding season. And I'd met Wayne um Manning, and I called him because we had seen that he had taken on the gentries as partners. And I and we love black and white, and and we just thought, okay, he's a young bull. We knew we couldn't call the big the big players with with with big name bulls.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

Let me add, kind of step back a little bit. We saw an ad that Brittany had had created, and it was so impactful, and and it it just it advertised the fact that he was black and white. And so that caught our eye, and now Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:54

And um, and so I called Wayne, and I didn't know Wayne well, but uh talked to him about would there ever be an opportunity to be a partner in that bull. And I really didn't expect him to be gung-ho, but he acted like, yes, I think there is. And so he called the gentries. I don't know if they wanted it, because they didn't really know. We even though we said the table, they probably don't even remember this story for all I don't even know. Um, but he called me back and said, Yeah, you're in. And we were just ecstatic because we knew we were going to get him immediately immediately. And um, and so we bought in, and I so I just want to do a shout out to Wayne and Joanna Manning because they did not have to let us in on him. I know he was young, but still a lot of big breeders, which I consider Wayne a big breeder, they don't want to take on someone like us who might not have the best herd going. But I think, and I don't want to speak for Wayne, but I really think he saw that when I talked to him, we were committed to having good animals for on his good bull. And I I again I don't I don't want to speak for him, but I really feel like he knew we were committed to improve. So it's a big thank you to them. And I hope other breeders will do that with young, young breeders, new breeders. We're not young, but we're new. So uh it because it helps make her it makes herd stronger when when the big guys will let little guys like us in on good bulls.

SPEAKER_02 37:31

I think one of the projects I worked with you all on after your website was going was right before last year's horn showcase, or uh you you're great planners, so it was quite a bit before the horn showcase, but that's what was gearing up for. And I remember you being so excited about about Irish luck, so it's fun to hear the the story about how it uh how it all came to be.

SPEAKER_01 37:53

Yes. Yes. And really, uh Brittany did such a good job in color testing, getting him color tested. And um he is, he's a true black, and you and I can we can say that with confidence because uh the genetic color testing backs it up. He is uh he has the dominant black gene. I think it's capital E D. And um and that just shows up in these calves, especially if he's mating with a a a black.

SPEAKER_00 38:27

Yeah, we're getting a lot of black and white calves and calves and a lot of tricolor. Now we have a brown every once in a while, but that the majority are those two colors, and we love both of those.

SPEAKER_01 38:37

Yeah. And so his dam, um, Reba, is a rare 90-inch rebel, black and white uh dam. And then his granddam also has the ED dominant gene. So he is just chop full of all this, you know, black and white, this black and white genetics. Rebel HR is black and white. Um, so we can say he is a true black with confidence, because he really is.

SPEAKER_00 39:07

And he fits in our herd so well. He's so gentle, which a lot of bulls are. I've I've come to see that the bulls tend to be more gentle than the mamas. That he is just so gentle. He's so gentle and so big. He's just massive, beautiful musk you know, the muscle uh structure on him. And so we we we could be out there in the pasture just scratching his head, giving him cubes. I used to do that, but I I've decided I'm gonna back off a little bit just because he's so big, it just takes him turning to walk away that could could hurt you. Not by totally by accident, but but even when he's eating with all the cows, you know, they they get pretty aggressive pushing each other out of the way. He just works his way in there and just starts eating. He there's no pushing around. And and he I said his personality is perfect for our herd.

SPEAKER_01 40:02

And he calms the girls down because they can get really catty. And so he'll he'll just walk up there to the troughs, and they're they're they're just kind of he cuts a swath and he just okay, I'm Irish, and I here I am, and they know it. And so, and another really cute thing about him is when he's courting, he will be um just very laid back and just put his head on a girl's shoulder and just hang out hang out with her, but he's not, he's so gentle and and sweet and and I just love him. I love him.

SPEAKER_02 40:43

Not to put you on the spot, but um I know you said you only have a handful of calves this year on the ground at the time that we're recording this. Is there one that's been born that you're really excited about or one coming up that you can't wait to see uh in terms of pairings with him that you can talk about?

SPEAKER_00 41:24

Well, I would say m I'm most excited about how he hosts heifer calf for with Discovery. And Discovery's a newer bull, but it's Wayne Manning and the Hudson's are partners on him, and I think he's gonna be a big time bull. He's just a massive bull that and she had a heifer calf that's just beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 41:47

Um wait well, Becky, of course. Becky was last year's crop, but um she is Becca Katarina's calf and and Irish, and she is absolutely gorgeous. She is just a classic tri color. Uh you can just see the kind of color change in her coat. She's probably about 70% tri. Um, and then the just the bright white um horn direction is just going the right way. And um beautiful disposition. She'll walk up to us, loves head head scratches, Irish hip, the whole bit. So Becky.

SPEAKER_00 42:30

Those two stand out. We have some others, but those two definitely stand out.

SPEAKER_02 42:34

Is there a certain cow in the breed owned by anyone, dead or alive, maybe I guess we could go to that you just really wish you could pair Irish with to see what you get?

SPEAKER_00 42:47

You know, I hadn't really thought about that. Um I don't know. I haven't there there are so many incredible cows. Um we have a maternal line called uh the cherry line, which is Alan's top cherry. I I I would be interested to see how that would work. Any of the any of the non-Tough checks, um, you know, legendary type cows, I think he would do fantastic with.

SPEAKER_01 43:20

And we're we're lucky because a lot of our cows do have Jamaicaism in them. So um, did we talk about this? I don't think we did. Um, and so you know, he has tough in him, so it's it's been a perfect balance of Tuff and Jamaicaism.

SPEAKER_02 43:37

So you all have come to understand who Jamaican Jamaicaism is. What he reads. We probably did.

SPEAKER_00 43:43

And we have probably as much Jamaicaism in our herd as anything in drag iron, but yes.

SPEAKER_02 43:49

Maybe the Brian Bright influence a little bit helped that.

SPEAKER_00 43:52

Yeah, he probably said, yeah, you need to learn who Jamaicaism is. And actually, one of the cows we own is BR Becca's Becca Katarina, and she's double-bred Jamaicanism that Brian did that.

SPEAKER_02 44:07

Before we move um off from the topic of beauty, is there anyone in your herd that we haven't covered that you want to talk about or any other traits or just information you want to share when it comes to the beauty of these cattle?

SPEAKER_01 44:20

Well, we can we did mention Becca Katerina. Um we got her from Kent and Janet, and I don't think they wanted to sell her, but I just was, I don't know, I dug my heels in and we got her.

SPEAKER_00 44:37

And I think it's because you gave her a treat and she took it.

SPEAKER_01 44:40

So it was true.

SPEAKER_00 44:41

That was it.

SPEAKER_01 44:42

I and again, I didn't know anything about long horns, what but she has turned out to be an incredible cow on every level. Just beautiful body, triple twist, long horns, gorgeous color, um, the perfect proportion of a feminine face and the right size horns. If there's anything that bothers me, it's a really skinny feminine face and thick horns. I just think that's uh not a good look. And so probably Becca and Becca Katarina is Becky's damn, so it's a maternal line that we want to continue.

SPEAKER_00 45:26

We we'd think Fast Iron is probably our best, but she's old she's older, but she just keeps on um producing really good calves. Uh we've got a wildfire calf um with her. It was done with IVF. Um and of course, Heidi Ho just had her calf um and so. So we think she's tremendous. But we've got some others that um we really, really like. That that that that cow out of Alan's Top Cherry is very, I think, high, high quality uh cow, beautiful, 93 inch, beautiful, everything about her is beautiful, beautiful swooping horns. Um so we and we've got some young ones that are coming up. We feel really good about. Uh we've we have been able to sell off some we weren't that really didn't fit in our our herd. And so we've slowly been trying to um get our herd the way we like it, and we're not there yet, but we're we're working that way.

SPEAKER_02 46:34

Let's switch gears a little bit and talk about the final uh term on your homepage, which is respect uh for the animals. What does that mean in practical terms?

SPEAKER_01 46:46

Well uh when you just think about the history of the Longhorn, they've been on this continent for 400 years and they've evolved uh to just be able to handle any kind of weather, any kind of uh feeding conditions and uh and really become these animals that you have to respect because of of what they've they've grown into and what they look like and uh just with the proper nutrition and uh we're lucky because we have uh really hilly land, lots of rocks that naturally conditions their uh their muscles and so um they just uh and I'm always so amazed by their keen instincts. You know, when we first started out, this cat this mama would have a calf and hide the calf somewhere, and we're like, oh my gosh, and we'd worry and we couldn't find the calf. And that's just their way of of protecting uh their babies. And so through the years, we've learned not to worry as much and and know, okay, they know what they're doing. These are intelligent animals. So yes, that's part of respect for sure.

SPEAKER_00 48:10

We just always ask the question, is it best for the animal? I mean, it's just as simple as that. Um and if it's not, then we just we just won't do it. Um but I just I just really believe animals should be respected because they're counting on humans to take care of them. And it's just it's and it's it's really boils down to that. And and I've seen as a young person, I saw people disrespect these, especially commercial cow operations. There they have there's no respect. It's strictly just a business and it it kind of turns your stomach. And so that's why the long horn world is more for us.

SPEAKER_02 48:52

How do you feel that respect plays into your breeding philosophy? Um, are you you know trying to balance beauty but also structural correctness?

SPEAKER_00 49:02

Absolutely, yes. Um, of course, Leslie's all about color and horn set. I'm more um pedigree structure. And so that's what I'm saying. When we I like color too, and I like horn set too. I mean, horn set's huge to me. It has to have that look. Um, and we try to even have a diversified horn set in our herd. Um, but we do tend, you'll see if you went on a web page, we do have a certain look we like the best, you can tell. Um but yeah, that I would say that.

SPEAKER_01 49:40

And I'll kind of I already said this, but I think it bears repeating that the horns really can't be too thick because I think that eventually I don't know this for sure, but I would think it would hurt the animal if the horns are too thick and too heavy. And if that animal doesn't have uh the size and the muscle, muscular structure to hold her head up, then um there might be some suffering there. And so uh we just don't believe in in that look.

SPEAKER_02 50:17

Well, you touched on it previously a little bit when you mentioned that you think that having the longhorns has also helped your personal relationship. Uh, where does how does respect play into that? Have you kind of watched each other learn, you know, alongside about the pedigrees and and the land management and all of that?

SPEAKER_01 50:37

Absolutely. You take it.

SPEAKER_00 50:40

I would just say what we have to really um be cognizant of is staying kind of in our lane. We kind of know what where my lane is and where Leslie, and if we as long as we stay in our lanes, I think we're really good because at the end of the day, we're gonna have to come together to just make these major decisions. Um I know a lot of people it's just one one of either the the female or the males making the decisions. It's just almost easier because there's not anyone pushing back. But I really think it makes our decision process stronger, uh just because we do have each what we want. Um I would have bought a cow a couple of weeks ago if if it hadn't been for her saying no. Um, but that's just the way it is, you know.

SPEAKER_01 51:30

And I'm kind of glad, not that I'm always right, because I'm not, uh, but there were a few times when I just pulled back the reins and said, look, you know, let there's always another option. Let's not get emotional about this one animal. She does not check all the boxes, let's wait. And it was it was the right decision. And so uh we have learned to respect one another in that process. And and again, and we both have pretty strong personalities, um, but we've learned, you know, after 36 years of marriage, how to navigate that.

SPEAKER_00 52:07

Right.

SPEAKER_02 52:07

So who are some breeders that you maybe haven't talked about yet that you have high respect for within the industry and why?

SPEAKER_00 52:17

Well, uh Bob Loomis uh spent a whole afternoon with me riding around looking at his incredible herd. It's just kind of you're just like, oh my gosh. Um he he I picked up all kinds of tidbits from him just dropped riding around in a Polaris. Um I mentioned the Buxtons, but the Buxtons have, I think, have a really quality operation and super nice and very supportive of us. Uh they just they're just 20 miles from us. Um the Stegamolars, um, we've got to know them. They're only an hour from us, super knowledgeable, nice people. Um we have a ton of respect for them. Um, you know, and Mike Davis uh is um Mike lives here in Dallas like we do and goes to his ranch, but um he's been very helpful, and uh I have a lot of respect for the the kind of herd he's built. I I really I've I've picked his brain a lot about that, and and uh there's a lot to be learned there on how to he he really focused on one maternal line that's made he's made made his his whole herd out of that, and that's that's not everybody does that. And I love people with a strategy that might not everyone else might not have. I mean, you look at Dean Whitlock, he has all these different partnerships, but his strategy is to have a piece of most of the best animals in the entire industry. I mean, I love that. I don't know if I would do it. I just love the fact that he has a strategy that he's implementing and other people have strategies that they're doing. I've heard a guy the other day say, yeah, have a friend who only buys red cows because he can get them so discounted, he could he knows how to put color on. I mean, there are strategies, even for young people who don't have a lot of money to make it work in this business, if you really think about it.

SPEAKER_02 54:13

Anything to add, Leslie?

SPEAKER_01 54:16

We did have a vision and a strategy that that we stuck to. And like we were saying before, we c kind of had different uh priorities. His was more horn, mine was color. Uh, but we have combined those uh to to create the herd that we have, and and we're really I'm I'm super happy about it. And people have commented uh that we have a good-looking herd. And so uh I never thought it would look this good three years ago. I had no idea, but uh, and a lot of it has to do with these maternal lines that we've like the fast line, uh with Fast Iron and the Cherry Line, Becca line, uh Heidi Ho with all of her Horseshoe J breeding. And those are really strong maternal lines in our herd, and uh and just adding Irish to that, uh I'm I'm just so excited to see what the feature holds.

SPEAKER_02 55:22

As we wrap up here, I have a few closing questions for you. So I want to see if you're on the same page about this question.

SPEAKER_00 55:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 55:28

How long until you go full time at the ranch?

SPEAKER_00 55:33

Yes, we talk about that a lot. Um with my business. I mean, we we've talked about having an apartment here and then you know coming in from during the week. We know people who do that, and they on Thursday go back to their ranch and stay all weekend. That's kind of what we do anyway. So I don't know if if we love our house here and our grandkids are here, or one side of our uh family is here. So it makes it easy. Um I don't know if that's in the future or in the near future. Anything could happen.

SPEAKER_02 56:09

Where do you see Norse Ridge Ranch as a breeding program in the next five years, 10 years, 15 years?

SPEAKER_00 56:17

Wow. Um that's a horrible. I I would just hope that we continue to improve our herd and that we have quality offspring we're selling that people will want. I mean, that's kind of the ultimate goal in this business. Um and it's just it's just gonna take a lot of uh detailed analysis and work to get there.

SPEAKER_01 56:41

And we have doing that. So we do believe, and that this kind of goes back to the respect tagline, the respect word respect. Uh we need to just give these animals time. Like there are a few animals that are just awkward looking, as they're kind of like awkward preteens. And uh I think they deserve the respect and the time and the nutrition to develop into a great looking animal. And and when you take look at their m their damn, look at their grand damn, and know, okay, this can happen, it just especially with maybe twisty horns or something. Um, it just takes time.

SPEAKER_02 57:28

For those folks listening who might be city-based, right? And longhorn curious, what would your advice be?

SPEAKER_01 57:38

I would say do what we did.

SPEAKER_00 57:41

Just get online and and start browsing and open your mind and and do your homework and and then maybe go to some of these auctions and uh Yeah, I think you you almost wish you could make people they have to go to three auctions and go to three ranches before you ever buy anything. Because you the learning curve is straight up if you would if people would do that. We didn't even know to do that. But um, and most people don't know to do that, but it's it would make a massive difference in the mistakes, because we all made mistakes, and uh it just makes it easier, I think, on on people if they would do that.

SPEAKER_01 58:22

Cause you can waste a lot of money.

SPEAKER_00 58:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:26

You really can. And you know, we made some mistakes, but uh just kind of pull back the reins a little bit, do your homework, get online, and uh it it'll just pay off.

SPEAKER_02 58:40

Tell our listeners how they can find you online.

SPEAKER_01 58:45

Norris Ridgeranch.com. Um it's our website.

SPEAKER_00 58:50

And then I guess Instagram is Norse.ranch.longhorns, I think. Yeah. And then and then Facebook. Um those are the three. We're trying to do more Instagram. We we only did Facebook for a long time, but we're starting up now. We have we have a really smart niece that helps us. So it's the youth angle. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 59:14

Thank you both so much for joining us today and sharing the heart behind your ranch. Uh, this conversation really reflected your tagline, which was therapy, beauty, and respect. I don't feel like it's just branding for you all. It's definitely how you live the lifestyle. So thank you for sharing that with our listeners.

SPEAKER_01 59:30

Yep. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Molly.